Improvement in looms



N.PE*TERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D. C.

dotted gieten @atentdimite.

Leam Patent No. 99,586, dated February s, 1870;

.IMPRQYEMENT IN Looms.

V v Hrw- The Schedule xeferred'to in these Letters Patent` and making.part of the same 'To all 'whom it may concern v Be itknown that I, JOHNN QRFOLK, oi' Salem, j

in the county of `Essex, and State of Massachusetts have invented a newand useful Improvement in Looms; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, referencebeiug'bad to the accompanyingl drawings, in

whichl Figure l, sheet 1, represents an end elevation of the Figure 2,sheet 1, represents a front elevation, partially in section.

Figure 3, sheet 2, represents an elevation, on a scale of three-quartersto one inch, of the shuttle, shuttlecarriage, and portion ofthe lay andrace-way.

Figure 4, sheet 2, represents a vertical section of the same.

Figure 5, sheet 2, represents a. plan of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures.

My invention hasfor its object the production of a loomlin which thereciprocating movement of the shuttle is obtainedl by a positivemechanism, which acts during its entire reciprocation, therebydispensing with the picker-motion, and its accessories, and its Yariousdisadvantages; also, to increase lEhe speed -at which the loom can besafely worked; to weave wider goods than can be woven on the commonloom; and to adapt, without material alteration ofthe loom, the devicesused for this purpose to the ordinary forms of looms now in general use,and which the drawing is intended to represent. e

y The nature of my invention consists in an mprovement in those looms inwhich the shuttle is carried across the la-y of the loom, between thewarps, by means ot' a shuttle-carriage below the warp, communicatingmotion to the shuttle by means oi' rollers arranged on ,the upper sideof the shuttle-carriage, which are placed in contact with rollers on thelower side of the shuttle;y The motion ofthe rollers in theshuttlecarriage'is produced by contact of the rollers with the underside of' therace-plate.

My invention further consists in actuating theshuttlc-carriage by meansot' wheels which have a continuons rotary motion, communicating areciprocating movement .by the alternate winding of the cords on theirperipheries. Thus all the parts moving the shuttle have a continuousrotary motion. y In the loom hcreindescribed and shown, the ordinarymotions, with the exception of the pickel', need not be disturbed.Iljhestop and harness-motions, letot, and take-up can be operated as isusual.

Referring to the drawing A represents the lay of the loom, which, forthis description, is seen most clearly in fig. 4. Thislny,`

may be made either of wood or metal, but I prefer to make it of woodand, in adapting this invention to a common loom, I make use oftheordinary lay. It is open through its entire length, forming a groove, B,of snicient size to allow the shuttle-carriage C to pass through itfreely from end to end.

To the top of the lay is secured the race-.plate D,

which is 'made either of cast or lmalleable iron, or other' suitablematerial, and has an opening through its cntire length, of' sufhcientwidth to allow the rollers E E, in the shuttle-carriage C, to vpass`freely between it. lt is secured to the top of thelay by suitablescrews, and` projects over the groove B, closing the top of the grooveB, except the space required for the roller E to pass through it. y

Attached to or cast upon the top ot' th'e race-plate D, is a series ofguides, F, which are placed at suitable distances apart, and are soshaped as to receive a projection, H, `on the lower side of the shuttle.I prefer to cast these guides on-the race-plate. y

At the ends ofthe lay, outside the warp`s,vthe guide is continuous, itsopening corresponding in shape to the guide F.

It will be found most convenient to cast the raceplate in sections, forconvenience ot' fitting up, audit can also be cast much lighter,

The rollers E E are fitted in the top side of the 'shuttle-carriage C,upon spring-bearings I I, which may be made of rubber; or a metalspring! may be used. i

These rollers have a auge on each side, bearing up against theY underside4 of the race-plate, being,

pressed up by the action of the springs or the carriage may have aspring-bottom, and the rollers, re- .tained in xed bearings,accomplishing the same result.

The shuttle-carriage G maybe made either of wood or metal-by preferenceof wood-and should be of suicient length, so that the' rollers E-E maybear outside ot the rollers J J in the Shuttle G.

I prefer to'have the shuttle-carriage run on a strip of leather placedin and secured to the bottom of the groove in the lay.V

The shuttle G is the common shuttle 4now in use, with the addition ofthe projection -Hfwhich is attached to the4 bottom of the shuttle, andthe rollers J J, which are iitted in the ends of the shuttle, uponhearings similar to the bearings of the rollers in the shuttle-carrage.

The projection H, on the 'bottom of the shuttle, may be made ofmalleable. iron, or other suitable materia-l, and its shape is such asto correspond withthe shape ot" the space between the guides F F, and isso sary movement ofthe shuttle-carriage across the lay.

The projection N is slightly grooved, for the purposc of retaining thecord O while being wound, and starts at the point where itI is desiredto commence the n'iovement ofthe shuttle-carriage, and the groovel forretaining the cord is continued around its circumference until it comesnear to the point at which it is desired to stop the shuttle-carriage,when the projection is gradually sloped olf, so that it does not retainthe cord, and it is released.

lhe amount of space between the starting and stopping-poii-its on thewheels corresponds to the time whiclrit is desired to allow the shuttleto remain still while the cloth is being beat up, and the harnesseschanged.

The wheels K are vconstructed as above described when the loom isintended to weave cloth of the common shirti'ng widths. When it isdesired to weave wider cloth, and, consequently, to vincrease the lengthofthe movement of the ,shuttle-carriage, the wheels K vmust be geared,so as to give the number of turns corresponding to the increased lengthof cord. In order to accomplish this result, the wheels K are placed ona separate shaft or stud, and geared from the crank or cam-shaft, so asto give the requisite speed; and

the cord may he wound upon the projection N, a sutcient number of timesto give the required movement ofthe shuttle-can'iage.' In this case, thewidth of the projection must correspond to the number of turns which thecord is required to be wound upon it.

The cprd O is attachedzto the end of the shuttlecarriage, and passesover leading-pulleys in the end of the lay, down vto or near therocker-shaft Q, under pulleys or eyes at that point, and up through apnlley or eye placed ou the end ofthe shifting-bar P. It

terminates in a swivehlt, which is connected with the axis of the wheelK.

'lhe shifting-bar P changes tne cord 00u to and o the projection N, onwheel K, at each movement of the shuttle across the lay, and it isoperated by the shitting-cam S, which is placed on a shaft geared fromthe driving-shaft of the loom.

The sliitft-ingbar maybe placed in any position where. itjwillileastinterfere with the other workingparts ofthe loom. v

The operation of my improved loom is as follows:

The warp and harnesses being hung as is usual, and the cop placed inthe'shuttle, the shuttle and` carriage are placed at either end of thelay. While in this position, one of the cords will be slack, and theother drawn tight, or nearly so. The shifting-bar will draw the c ord tothe position on the right-hand side of the loom, indicated in fig. 2,sheet l--that is,

close to the wheel K, in'a line with the projection N. Any suitablepower being applied to the loom through the driving-pnlleysL, the wheelK is vrotated in the direction ofthe arrow, iig. 1, winding the cord onthe projection N, and drawing the shuttle across the lay. 'lhe rollersddE, in the shuttle-carriage, are rotated by contact with the under sideofthe race-plate, in a reverse direction to the movement of thecarria-ge. 'lhe arrow in fig. 3, sheet 2, shows the direction of thismovement.` The rollers J- J, in the shuttle, are rotated in the samedirection by contact with the rollers E E, the warp being slightlyraised as it passes between the rollers E and J. Any inequalities in thethickness of the warp-threads are compensated for by the elasticity ot'the spring-bearingsof the roller J J in the shuttle. Thile the shuttleis passing through,

the lower shed ofthe warp is below the surface ot' the guides, andliesupon the surface of the lay between the guides. are below the warp,and the cloth is beat up by the' reed in the usual manner.

lhe dotted lines in lig. 1, sheet 1, indicate the position of the warpwith the shuttle passing through.

It is obvious, that. by varying the starting and stopping-angle of theprojection N on wheels K, the shuttie-carriage may be made to start andstop at any return in the cord O which 'is made as thc cord is woundthus keeping it at a uniform lengt-l1. y

A separate shuttle may be used, placed in a ca*- riagc, occupying theposition of the shuttle G, which' may be taken ont and replaced with thesame facility as the ordinary shuttle, and which, for convenience, maybe preferred to the lixed shuttle.

For weaving fabrics of the ordinary narrow width, when but one turn ofthe cord is required around the wheel', the shifting-bar may bedispensed with. In this case, the wheel K must be large enough, so thatthe cord O shall occupy less than lialf the @herunterence of the wheel.

The starting-points are set opposite each other. 'lhe mechanism employedin movingv the shuttle is simple and durable. Having a continuons rotarymotion, it avoids the concussions and jars incident tothe picker-motion,which injures and ultimately destroys the loom. Less power is requiredto operate it.

The warp is not liable to be injured by pressure of the shuttle, and theshuttle, runningr free li'om the reed, cannot chafe or injure it.

The adjustments of the shuttle and shuttle-carriage are simple, and,once fitted properly, will. wear and operate wit-h great uniformity anddurability. It may be applied to common looms now in general use forweaving cotton, wool, silk, hemp, flax, jute, and other fabrics, withbut slight alterations and expense.y

I am aware that the shuttle has been carried across -the lay of the loomby means of a shuttle carriage, as

shown in several English and American patents. My devices accomplishthis purpose more perfectly than any I have ever before known.

Having thus fully described my invention,

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A shuttle-carriage, with'the rollers arranged on its upper side, andin contact with the under side of the race-plate, so as to communicatemotion to the rollers in a direction reverse to that o f the shuttle,the said rollers being held up to the race-plate by springs or theirequivalents, substantially in the manner described and shown.

2. A shuttle, carried through the warp by ashuttle' carriage, and guidedin its passage across the lay by a series otl guides on the upper sideof the race-plate, which will allow the warp to pass freely between saiduides and so arranged as to n'event the shuttle from Y s o l deviatingfrom its proper course, or tlying out while in its passage through thewarp, and provided, at its When the cloth is beat up, the guides erids,with rollers, 4journaled on spring-bearings, and' arranged in Contactwith the rollers in the top of' the shuttle-carage.

3. The continuously-rotating flanged or grooved wheels K andshuttle-carriage C, connected by cords or equivalents, the wheels beingconstructed substam' tially as described, so that the shuttle-carriageis recipruca-ted from a continuously-rotating shaft.

4. The wheels K and cords O, in combi-nation with tllecam andshifting-bar, Aor their equivalents, to guide the cords on and 0H' theflange, :is described.;

fitness my hand, this 19th dany of" July, 186i).

JOHN li. NORFOLK.

Witnesses: J. A; BAssETT, JOHN R. NICHOLS.

